I don't know. It's OK.

yeah some of this really sucks but that's ok with me! we've got so many amazing performances from 1969 and it's actually VERY interesting to hear the band struggling to keep it's shit together (or maybe even not giving a damn) in the late late 1960's.

from the way you hear phil and jerry talking about the music they made from this period, they were hardly ever fucking around and taking the music very seriously, so it's cool to hear the band just phoning it in back when they never really phoned it in.

also... the thing about pigpen... he's got... he's got SOUL!!

What's the difference between this and the other 5-16-69 source?! They appear to be practically identical.

I was a sophomore and the show was uninspired. The two other nameless bands were better recieved.
I remember the custodian getting upset when they tried to hammer the drumset to the stage to get ready.
Just a side note: Santana put on a splendid concert that spring, just before woodstock.

The two things that immediately struck me as I listened to this set were one....com'on folks...its in a highschool gym like we used to have our old talent shows and school dances in, and the sound quality is actually remarkable considering. Give some of those old audience recorded cassettes a listen to and you will remember how trading was in the seventies and eighties and realize how spoiled we all are getting. The other thing was it sounded circa '65 to me not '69 quality Dead. School Girl was actually ok, as was most of Rag, and Lovelight certainly has it's moments. Bobby murdered Uncle and the whole gang stunk it up on Hard to Handle. All in all I think it is worth having around so I can remember how far they came from those early days. Some of the 60's stuff is amazing but this show is not one of them, but we need to keep it in context.

I may agree that it is not a great set list, nor the hottest of shows... but think about it.

Someone in some high school auditorium recorded the Dead in their peak years, and for this we get a really solid sound source, and Schoolgirl (fairly apt, do ya think Pig was checkin' out some 17 yr old cutie while singing??) and Lovelight have some really excellent riffs. For how old it is, for digging up this old obscurity, it's still worth a listen and a doobie.

On no other evening has the song Hard to Handle been more aptly titled.

This is possibly the worst GD concert ever played..cm